Dr Appleford also consulted at Koo Wee Rup, at Mr T. Burhop's and Grantville on 'sale days'.
The Applefords lived in a house beside the Butter Factory in Station Street (2) and started operating a private hospital. Dr Appleford treated the usual range of ailments and incidents common in a country town, including treating the 54 people injured in the Christmas Eve train accident of 1928, when a passenger train hit a stationary goods train at Koo Wee Rup (3). Here are some other reports of his medical cases, including happy births and sad deaths.
Dr Appleford's wife, Alice, had also served in the First World War, and as we saw in the article at the top of the post, she holds the M.M. for bravery under fire - the Huns having shelled the hospital in France in which she was working. Alice Ross-King was born on August 5, 1887, in Ballarat, the daughter of Archibald and Henrietta (nee Ward) Ross King. She was actually christened Alys, but generally used Alice. She trained as a nurse at the Alfred Hospital and also worked at the Austin, Mildura and Wentworth Hospitals. Alice enrolled in the Australian Army Nursing Service on November 5, 1914.When she arrived in Egypt she was assigned to a Clearing Hospital for Gallipoli casualties. In April 1916, the Australian General Hospital, to which she was attached, was transferred to France. On July 22, 1917 the hospital was bombed and for her bravery, Sister Ross-King was awarded the Military Medal, one of only seven Australian Nurses who received this award during World War One. The award was gazetted in the London Gazette of September 25, 1917 and appeared in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette on January 24, 1918 (10).
In November 1918, Sister Ross King was awarded the Royal Red Cross decoration in recognition of her valuable service with the Army in France and Flanders. The Royal Red Cross decoration was the initiative of Queen Victoria to reward women who showed exceptional service and dedication in nursing sick and wounded servicemen, whether at home or abroad. (11). Sister Ross-King's diary, 1915 - 1919, has been transcribed and can be read on the Australian War Memorial website, here.
Lorna Finnie, the author of Sister Ross-King's Australian Dictionary of Biography entry describes her service in World War two - She enlisted for full-time duty with the V.A.D.s and her husband was commissioned as a medical officer in the army. By 1942 the V.A.D.s had developed into the Australian Army Women's Medical Services and Alice Appleford was commissioned as a major and appointed senior assistant controller for Victoria. Untiring in her devotion to duty and hard work, with responsibility for some 2000 servicewomen, her organizing skills had great impact on fund-raising activities during World War II. She was fully committed in assisting Red Cross and Service charities, supporting war widows and children and demonstrating concern for the well-being of members of the A.A.W.M.S. (12).
Alice Appleford died August 16, 1968 in Sydney and she is buried with her husband at Fawkner Cemetery. (13)
Footnotes(1) South Bourke and Mornington Journal, September 11, 1919, see here.
This is an updated and expanded version a story, which I wrote and researched, which appears on my work blog, Casey Cardinia Commemorates: Our War Years